Driver trapped in speeding car with no brakes

Last updated 14:35 14/02/2013

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A French motorist has endured a harrowing 60 minutes trapped in his car that had no brakes and the speed jammed at over 200 kmh.

Frank Lecerf, who drives a Renault Laguna adapted for disabled drivers, was on his way to his regular supermarket but ended up over 200 kilometres away across the border in Belgium as he fought to keep his car under control before it ran out of petrol and he steered it into a ditch.

The incident required some quick initiative from emergency services as three toll stations were co-ordinated to raise their barriers as Lecerf raced across the French countryside and across the border.

Lecerf, 36, is taking legal action against Renault over the car's jammed throttle and loss of brakes, claiming it is not the first it had happened by Renault had assured him that it was fine.

His Laguna's speed first jammed at around 100 kmh as he headed down a motorway but each time he tried to brake, the car actually accelerated, eventually topping out at 201 kmh and staying there.

He managed to call emergency services while weaving in and out of traffic and a platoon of police cars eventually caught up and cleared a path for him across 200 kilometres of French motorway and into Belgium until it ran out of petrol.

"My life flashed before me," Lecert, who escaped uninjured, told Le Courrier picard. "I just wanted it to stop."

A Renault technician had been on the phone with police throughout the chase trying to help but couldn't come up with a solution.